By way of background, ceramic, porcelain, and other such glazed and fired tiles have been known and used in building construction for decades. To date, the installation of such tiles has been a very labor-intensive process, usually involving messy mortar, cement, or other such bonding agent that require a sufficient drying or cure time. Generally, the smoother and harder the surface, the more difficult the bond and thus the stronger the bonding agent must be to insure a strong and reliable installation. With porcelain tiles, this is a particular challenge, often requiring a separate acrylic or polymer to help the tiles stick, reducing their practical usage despite the tiles otherwise being very attractive and durable.
The following art defines the present state of this field:
U.S. Pat. No. 2,760,881 to Toulmin, Jr. is generally directed to a tile member comprising a glass fiber sheet having a ceramic coating on the upper surface thereof, and a suitable adhesive backing on the under surface thereof. The ceramic surface of the tile may contain a pattern of grooves if so desired. The adhesive layer on the under surface of the tile member is optional, but is preferable if the tile member is to be used as a wall or ceiling covering.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,583,889 to Califano et al. is generally directed to an apparatus for the production of adhesive-backed tile products. Tile products from a stack are moved in succession by a conveyor at a constant speed and in uniformly spaced relationship. A web of adhesive-coated protective material is applied over the moving tile products and bonded thereto. This web is then severed between each adjacent tile product by a cutting knife thereby producing an adhesive coated tile product with a protective sheet thereon which is removed when the tile products are installed.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,962,504 to Sherwin is generally directed to fired ceramic tiles having a rear surface provided with a series of fine ribs but is otherwise substantially planar that are attachable to a wall or similar surface, without the need to apply a fixative to the surface, by reason of a plurality of bodies of adhesive material distributed over the rear surface of the tile body and projecting therefrom to a thickness of 0.75 to 1 mm, the adhesive being a pressure-sensitive adhesive and being of such a nature that it will retain its coherent form both prior to and after mounting of the tile and will not flow or spread appreciably, each body of adhesive extending over a plurality of said ribs which are embedded therein, having a flat outer surface and being spaced from adjacent bodies of adhesive and from the edges of the tile body, and the adhesive material being protected by a peel-off film.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,079,554 to Terwilliger is generally directed to a simulated exterior surface assembly for creating the appearance of brick, stone, or the like. A sheet of plastic material, preferably vinyl, is provided with a series of simulated brick face sections or the like, defined by lines of weakening, where such sections are separable one from another by ordinary flexing. The sheet is provided with a peel-away self-adhesive allowing the simulated sections to be readily adhered onto a suitable undersurface. An optional arrangement includes the use of a mortar colored vinyl self-adhering backing material which is first placed on the undersurface and thereafter the individual simulated sections are suitably disposed thereon.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,554,769 to Fujii et al. is generally directed to an adhesive-backed tile panel protected by a release sheet. The prefabricated tile panel comprises a substrate sheet composed of a core fabric and a heat-softening-adherent asphalt composition applied to the both surfaces of the fabric; an adhesive layer having convex and concave portions such as stripes of an adhesive not flowable but sticky at an ambient temperature; and tiles arranged regularly and secured to the asphalt composition layer of the substrate sheet. The convex portions and concave portions of the adhesive layer constitute the gaps through which air present between the tile panels and a substrate board can be purged upon installation of the tile panels. The tile panels can be installed readily on a substrate board having thereon horizontal indication means such as crosspieces by removing the release sheet, mounting the tile panels on the substrate board, and pressing the mounted tile panels to purge air present between the panels and the board through the gaps of the adhesive layer and to increase the effective adhesion areas of the adhesive layer. A unit substrate board having specified structures for assembling a preferred substrate board is also provided for installation of the tile panels.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,804,569 to Arisawa is generally directed to a unit tile comprising a tile member of a desired shape and thickness, which is made of a synthetic resinous material having flexibility, an adhesive layer formed on a rear side of the tile member, and a release paper attached to the surface of the adhesive layer to cover and protect the adhesive surface. The unit tile is formed of a plurality of tile members. The tile members are disposed on a thin, flexible substrate, leaving spaces corresponding to joints between the respective tile members. The rear side of the substrate has the adhesive layer which is covered by the release paper. This unit tile may have marginal portions usable as overlaps for splicing. With such a configuration of the unit tile, the unit tile may easily and accurately set on walls etc., while conforming it to the configuration of the setting walls etc.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,989,369 to Light is generally directed to a porcelain address tile that is bonded directly to the exterior surface of a brick wall with a structural adhesive. In order to hold the tile in place while the structural adhesive cures, a double-sided (peel and stick) adhesive material is applied to the rear surface of the porcelain tile. According to another embodiment of the present invention, a decorative construction module in the form of an address tile for incorporation into the wall of a structure includes a porcelain tile measuring approximately ⅜ inch thick which has an outer surface inscribed with name/number and/or address information thereon and a backing block fabricated out of expanded polystyrene material and being bonded to the porcelain tile in order to create the completed module. The rectangular solid form of the module is sized and shaped so as to fit appropriately within a residential brick wall based upon the typical brick sizes and spacing of the mortar joints.
Japanese Patent Application No. 2001207619A to Sunasawa et al. is generally directed to a self adhesive tile set simple to peel the tile and capable of sufficiently displaying adhesion force even when the method for forming one opposite tile and an applying face different in the other adhesive pattern is adopted. In the self adhesive tile set wherein other kinds of adhesives are applied on the rear faces of the two tiles respectively and which is supplied in a state where the rear faces of both the tiles are stuck, one adhesive is a water soluble adhesive and/or an emulsion adhesive, the other adhesive is a solvent adhesive, if the respective adhesives are stuck on the adhesive faces, they are stuck, can be simply peeled by hands, and the respective adhesives remain on the respective applied face.
Japanese Patent Application No. 2001295449A to Iwai is generally directed to a tile, a tile panel and a tiling structure facilitating installation and removal of the tile and the tile panel to enable them to be easily replaced many times. The tile has viscous elements affixed to its back. A dry joint bar is interposed between vertically adjoining tiles and when they are affixed to a wall face. The viscous element should preferably have a thickness of 1 to 5 mm, particularly 2 to 5 mm, a Shore hardness of 5 to 35°, and a 180° peeling adhesive strength of 1.5 N/25 mm to 20 N/25 mm.
European Patent No. 2,066,853 and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2009/0233034 to Saunders et al. are generally directed to a tiling adhesive application system comprising a backing sheet with a series of parallel grooves extending thereacross and each carrying a bead of tiling adhesive. A release sheet is bonded to the edge margins of the backing sheet to form a sealed package. The backing sheet is transparent and of the same size as a tile to be adhered to a wall. The release sheet is peeled away to expose the adhesive which is then applied to the wall while carried by the backing sheet, whereafter the backing sheet is lifted away from the wall leaving the adhesive ready to bond a tile to the wall.
While the prior art described above teaches, among other things, tiles having a pressure sensitive adhesive with a peel-away layer, it fails to teach such a tile having, in certain embodiments, a contact adhesive array positioned and configured for forming a perimeter gasket continuously about a perimeter of an underside surface of the tile when it is secured to a substrate. Furthermore, the prior art fails to teach the substrate being coated, in certain embodiments, with a bond enhancer configured for providing an etched-like surface on the substrate for an improved, hook-and-loop fastening type engagement with the tile. Aspects of the present invention fulfill these needs and provide further related advantages as described in the following disclosure.